Local musicians stung by weekend robbery

Brujas del Sol, one of the band's hit by the weekend theft. Photo by Meghan Ralston

The city's music scene took a huge hit over the weekend when a Grandview Heights warehouse utilized as a rehearsal space by a number of local bands was burglarized.

On Saturday, Adrian Zambrano of Brujas del Sol posted details of the robbery to both the band's Facebook site and Reddit, writing, “Our rehearsal space was broken into [overnight Friday] and [a number of] bands have had guitars, pedals, microphones and all sorts of other gear stolen.”

In the hours since this initial posting the affected bands have taken to various social media platforms to ask the public for its assistance in recovering the stolen instruments.

"We are crippled … because all of our guitars were taken, and the equipment ... that stores all of our songs for our record is gone,” The Weight of Whales wrote on Facebook. “If you have any information, or can help us, or any other bands on this list out, then please do so.”

“Our hearts go out to friends ... that had gear stolen in the break-in at our rehearsal facility. We also lost items, but our lost gear pales in comparison to that of some others,” wrote Lo-Pan on Facebook. “Be on the lookout for lists of stolen gear from these bands ... and let's try to help them find their stuff.”

Much of the gear, which includes dozens of guitars worth thousands of dollars, is either one-of-a-kind or personalized to an incredible degree, which, in theory, should make the instruments easier to track. Stolen guitars belonging to Bummers, for instance, are described as having “a large amount of sticker residue on the body” and “paint chipped off the entire back.”

One thing the burglary has demonstrated, however, is the close-knit nature of the local music community. In the Reddit thread, a number of musicians have offered up loaner instruments to the affected bands (“I have an Austin hollow body that I literally never play that I would be happy to lend out to you if you need something to play or practice on,” wrote one such poster), and hundreds have done some part to get word out in the hopes the perpetrators will be caught and the stolen gear recovered.

“A big thank to everyone for the outpouring of interest following the theft of our rehearsal space Friday night/Saturday morning. We had over 240 shares of our status with the gear list in 15 hours...that is amazing,” wrote Lo-Pan. “Special thanks to the amazing Columbus Arts Community, which has come together in a [manner] seldom seen. Respect.”